O Caledonia

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'I once decided to become friends with someone on the sole basis that she named O Caledonia as her favourite book' Maggie O'Farrell 'A sparky, funny work of genius' Ali Smith'The reader feels unalloyed joy on every page' IndependentAt the bottom of a great stone staircase, dressed in her mother's black lace evening dress, twisted in murderous death, lies Janet. So end the sixteen years of Janet's short life.A life spent in a draughty Scottish castle, where roses will not grow, and a jackdaw decides to live in the doll's house.A life peopled by prettier, smoother-haired siblings, a Nanny with a face like the North Sea and the peculiar, whisky-swigging Cousin Lila.A life where Janet is perpetually misunderstood - and must turn from people, to animals, to books, to her own wild and wonderful imagination.A W&N Essential with an introduction by Maggie O'Farrell'Funny, surprising, exquisitely written and brilliant on the smelly, absurd, harsh business of growing up' David Nicholls'A...

The cheapest new copy of O Caledonia is £10.44 at Bookshop.org UK. Prices checked 7 Nov 2026

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More by Elspeth Barker

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